This blog turned 20 years old a couple of weeks ago. (*Cliche alert* Very strange to think about this - it feels like yesterday that I started writing a few scattered posts with no clear sense that it could lead to anything, or that it would play such a big role in my life as a writer.)
But something else that’s more surprising: since September 2004, not a month has gone by without a post. That’s 240 straight months with some activity, however meagre. (Last month I just maintained the streak, putting up my Economic Times column - the only post - near the end of the month. And now this post has taken the streak to 241.) This despite the fact that in the past decade I have used the blog mainly as an article storehouse and often not visited it for days on end (and my column/review writing reduced greatly during this period, so there often wasn’t much to post anyway). Also, in the last few years there have been many mini-posts/whimsical reflections/updates/event photos which I didn’t put on the blog at all - only on FB or Instagram or on email/WhatsApp groups.
But I guess The Streak means I’m still possessive enough about this big green space to keep it somewhat functional. Even if there are only one-and-a-half readers left, and the page rank is now so low that the blog rarely shows up in the first few pages of Google search results...
(P.S. here is a post from September 2005, when the blog had just turned one, and I was behaving as if it was the biggest landmark imaginable!)
wait! I don't think you counted me! Ergo, there must be at least two and a half readers here!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Let's round it off to three readers then...
Delete+1 4 readers now 😀. And btw I will bookmark it and make sure I read every month.
DeleteLOL @ Happy Jabberwock Jayanti!!. That expression got its well-deserved chuckle after almost 20 years. Those were the glory days of the blog culture. We will reminisce wistfully about it as some people do about Ganga jamni tahzeeb.
ReplyDeleteHappy 20 years to the blog, and kudos for keeping it going in an age where blogging seems positively quaint. Really appreciate all the content you’ve put up and perspectives offered (pointed me to a good many books and movies, which this reader is grateful for). From a purely one-sided standpoint, here’s hoping you continue to feel possessive about this space!
ReplyDeleteYou can count one more reader here - this is still in my feedly subscriptions, so I end up reading it diligently everytime I see an update!
ReplyDeleteCongrats for making it to 20 years! I definitely check your blog more than once a month :-)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations. I have been reading your blog since 2005, good to see you still going strong
ReplyDelete+1 here's one more reader
ReplyDeleteThis blog was in my Google Reader subscriptions (why why why did Google retire Google Reader???) and is now in The Old Reader subscriptions
The only people from back then (the good, old days of blogging) who are still blogging are professional writers. And this tribe always saw blogging as an extension of their writing/journalism. Almost everyone else who was blogging for fun, or as a hobby, couldn’t persist after the first 5-7 years. In the end, blogging turned out to be a fad.
ReplyDeleteWriting, of course, continues, though strict paywall rules prevent writers from sharing their work.
+1.
ReplyDeleteI check your blog for updates atleast once a month, with the hope that you have posted something new.
Congratulations on your blog turning 20!
Hi. Congratulations on 20 years of the blog. I have been a regular reader of your blog and do keep checking for updates as frequently as possible. I love the way your articles combine the topic of the article with a personal reference and make it more enriching. Please continue posting and I sincerely wish that you clock another twenty years with the blog at the least.
ReplyDelete